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Author
Topic: Lupus SLE & Hiv (My Story) New Member (Read 2672 times)

So to make it short and sweet, I was born to an Hiv+ mother but when she had me she was on medication to protect me, so when I was born I was negative, was negative until I turn 7 when they discover I had sle lupus, they said something like the lupus hid the hiv , but my family was all shocked because I was always negative, the test they run now on me is the hiv-1rna Qnt real-time PCR Interp. I'm just on sustiva 200mg and epivior 150mg, and my medication only been change twice. They also noticed without medication I am still undetectable. I've never had any problems concerning hiv and thats been 13 years, the only problems I've had was the one that start the crazy party which is the lupus sle. -But anyways that my story

I too have had autoimmune problems. ITP, hemolytic anemia, graves, hyperthyroidism, osteoarthritis-but not Lupus. A close friend has been dealing with Lupus for years. Autoimmune diseases are not pretty. Retroviruses have long been thought to be involved in their etiology through a variety of mechanisms. I get the sense from a prior posting that autoimmune issues like ours are not common with the people on this forum.

I found it really interesting that it took so long to diagnose you with HIV-I'll have to research your situation. Sorry to hear you had to contract HIV through no fault of your own unlike me. Good luck to you.

This is a very important post. It seems to be a difficult task to differentiate the symptoms of HIV and Lupus especially discoid, because symptoms tend to mimic each other, especially with the skin. Although it is rare to find people that have both HIV and lupus, I have found some on the Lupus Forum of America. You see, I had three false positives for lupus because of amazingly high ANA titers. Plus showing signs of lupus with rashes and such, not the butterfly rash though. I have been tested for Hashimoto's disease, but negative. But in my heart, I know I have a true autoimmune problem along with the AIDS. My rheumatologist's discard the notion. My Endrocronologist (sp) seems to equate my symptoms with IRS or Immune Reconstitution Syndrome, which most people go through right after acquiring HIV. I've had it for 25 years and counting. This was the first diagnosis that made sense to me.

I strongly encourage you LifeIsBeyondMore to explore the Lupus Foundation of America Forum for your condition. I have found lot's of support there as I'm sure you will too. It's a full plate just dealing with HIV but with SLE Lupus on top of that, my heart truly goes out to you. Let me know if I can be of any assistance for resources.